The business world contains an abundance of competent, capable, hardworking, committed managers, but only a handful of them would be regarded as successful leaders. What qualities, then, does a manager need to possess in order to inspire others to want to follow? .
"To manage" means "to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct." "Leading", on the other hand, is "influencing, guiding in direction, course, action, opinion." The distinction is crucial. Managers are people who do things right, and leaders are people who do the right thing. The difference may be summarized as activities of vision and judgement - effectiveness, versus activities of mastering routines - efficiency. (Bennis & Nanus, 1985) .
Leadership is different from management. It is not necessarily better than management, nor a replacement for it. Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and changing business environment. (Kotter, J.P. 1990) .
Is leadership, then, a quality occurring naturally in all managers once they assume the managerial role, or is it a skill which has to be learned? Are leaders born, or are they made? In the following discussion I will attempt to answer some of these questions by elaborating on the concepts of management and leadership, their differences, and the qualities and responsibilities inherent in each. .
What is a Manager?.
A manager is the person formally in charge of the whole firm or one of its units. He or she is distinguished by the formal authority he or she is granted. The prime purpose of a manager is to ensure that the organisation serve its basic purpose, namely, the efficient production of its goods and services. The manager must design and maintain the stability of the organisation's operations and through the process of strategy formulation, ensure that the organisation adapt in a controlled way to its changing environment.
